The host for this year’s Routes CIs event is Ekaterinburg Koltsovo Airport which is the fifth largest airport in Russia, in terms of passenger traffic. During the last decade the airport has undergone major development and the newly constructed passenger terminals have increased capacity to eight million passengers per year.
In 2011 passenger traffic grew by 22 percent handling over 3 million passengers a number which is expected to increase to over four million passengers in 2012. One of Koltsovo Airport’s primary goals is to evolve into a regional feeder hub feeding both European and Asian network carriers. To achieve this goal the airport are currently investing most of their efforts into the development of regional aviation and direct services between the neighbouring regions of the Urals, Siberia and other CIS countries. Koltsovo Airport is also transforming into an airport authority aiming to operate a number of Russian regional airports.
Founded in 1723 on the Eastern side of the Ural Mountain range Ekaterinburg is the fourth largest city in Russia with a population of 1.4 million. It is a powerful industrial and research centre as well as a major business centre whose banking and financial institutions occupy a leading place in Russia’s national economy.
Speaking in December 2011 when the event was officially launched Koltsovo Airport CEO Yevgeny Chudnovsky commented: “Hosting Routes CIS 2012 is a great privilege and a variety of opportunities for us, the projects currently implemented at Koltsovo surpass the scopes of the airport development and expands to the air gateways of Nizhny Novgorod, Samara and ultimately to other Russian airports,” Chudnovsky went on to explain: “To have Routes CIS hosted in Ekaterinburg is a perfect opportunity for us to give an insight into our plans and achievements to our colleagues, to share our expertise in introduction of new technologies, related to airport operation in particular, to find new partners, and to enhance the route network for our passengers.”
Ekaterinburg is located in the central Eastern part of Russia and due to its unique geographical location on the border of Europe and Asia it is the ideal location for airports, airlines, tourism authorities and other industry stakeholders to develop relationships between the East and the West.
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